Were treasured maps looted?

A dropped knife blade at Yale's rare book and map library was the tip-off that led to the arrest of well-known East Coast map dealer E. Forbes Smiley III , now charged with larceny

July 28, 2005|By Tonya Maxwell, Tribune staff reporter.

An X-Acto knife blade, dropped last month in a Yale University library, has the Newberry Library in Chicago and other top storehouses of antique maps around the nation scouring their collections to see if pages are missing from priceless old atlases.

The blade had been dropped by E. Forbes Smiley III, a well-known map dealer, at Yale's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, according to court documents. Librarians notified the security guards, who called in the university police. Officers arrested him on campus.

In a pocket of his blazer, officers found a rare print of a map of the early colonies. They also found seven other maps in Smiley's briefcase. They charged Smiley, who lives in Martha's Vineyard, Mass., with larceny of three centuries-old Beinecke maps, which investigators have had appraised at $178,000. He was released on $175,000 bail.

But university investigators, unable to determine the origin of four of the maps, turned the documents over to the FBI. Earlier this month, federal agents called on librarians at other top rare-book institutions--including the Newberry--to delve into their records. They want to know if Smiley, 49, visited their libraries and if maps are missing.

Smiley viewed items at the Newberry, 60 W. Walton St., twice in the last few years, most recently in March, library officials say. The collection, which focuses on the humanities, is open to the public for research, and librarians document what item each patron has requested. The materials must be viewed in the library.

"We're looking at our map collection," said Melissa McAfee, vice president for library services. They began their review earlier this month, she said, and have not determined if items are missing from the collection that boasts about 300,000 maps.

The atlases Smiley viewed contained numerous pages, said Deter Wisniewski, vice president for advancement, and because they are old, it's not unusual for pages to be missing from books. Librarians aren't able to check each page before and after a researcher views it, she said, stressing that Newberry officials are continuing their review.

Libraries review holdings

Stewards of the nation's other famed map collections, including those at the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, and Harvard and Yale Universities, say they also are continuing similar internal investigations.

The review at the Boston Public Library is complete, President Bernard Margolis said. Smiley recently visited the library and requested several items, but nothing appears to be missing, he said.

The world of rare-map aficionados, compared to the massive number of coin or stamp collectors, is small and tends to be populated by wealthy people with a passion for history and travel. Dealers like Smiley who have been in the business for decades and can help collectors find early maps tend to be known throughout the community, at least by name.

Smiley and his attorney did not return calls seeking comment, but Smiley described the booming trade, fueled by dabblers who rediscovered maps as decorative pieces, to The New York Times in 1990.

"The problem for dealers is not so much selling as finding the really nice things," Smiley said at the time.

The eight maps Smiley had in his possession at Yale are national treasures representing the Age of Discovery, said W. Graham Arader III, a map dealer based in New York. The prints, made from copper or wood engravings, recount the 16th and 17th Centuries, when European and American explorers were beginning to discover and chart the world.

Their value to collectors has long encouraged some dealers to wield X-Acto knives in the pursuit of money, said Arader, who says he is a longtime critic of Smiley.

"Rich guys are always going to want these things, and they're always going to give them away [to institutions]. All these map dealers have been doing things that are unfortunate," Arader said. "The way people have been doing this, they go in with a razor blade and steal maps."

Arader sued and won against Smiley eight years ago, he said, when an $8,000 check for a purchase bounced. But he is charming, Arader said.

At Yale's Beinecke Library, the case against Smiley began when a librarian noticed the X-Acto knife blade on the floor. She saw Smiley sitting nearby and notified security, according to the arrest warrant. They turned on a security camera, which videotaped Smiley viewing a book and removing a map that appraisers, working with police, have valued at $150,000, according to the arrest warrant.

The security supervisor called university police, and when Smiley collected his briefcase and left, Detective Martin Buonfiglio followed.

Eight maps found

Buonfiglio asked Smiley if the blade was his, according to the detective's written account. Smiley acknowledged that it was and allowed officers to look through his briefcase, where they found the seven maps. Another, a 1614 colonial print by Jamestown founder Capt. John Smith, was tucked in Smiley's blazer pocket.